Ruffle curtain



F. S. NICHOLS RUFFLE GURTAIN June 14,V 1949.

2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed Jan. 8, 1946 hlx/ENTER:

F. s. Nici-leans June 14, 1949.

RUFFLE 'QUMAIN 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Jan. 8, 1946 INVENTDR: WJ. QM E uw@ @a Anm/5 Patented June 14, 1949 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE 2 Claims.

This invention relates to curtains of the type having a ruiile or ruiiies along one or more edges thereof.

Housewives endeavoring to arrange the ruies on a hanging curtain to their taste, become frequently vexed by the unwieldiness of these ruiiles which defy their most determined efforts to pat them into the desired shape. This is particularly true of relatively wide ruiiies along the top edge or along a falling edge of a curtain, which droop or fall in a more or less uncontrollable fashion and present an unsightly appearance. All this is due to the fact that the pleats of a ruffle force the latter into an irregularly undulating mass and impart to the same a staying power which is suiiicient to resist any attempts at isolated reformation, and insufficient to prevent drooping or falling at random.

It is the primary object of the present invention to provide a curtain with a rulile or ruffles, which may readily be patted by hand into, and will retain, any shape, according to ones taste, and which will not droop at random anywhere on the hanging curtain.

This and other objects of the present invention are accomplished by reinforcing the ruffle throughout a part of its lateral expanse, starting from its attachment to an edge of the curtain. To this end, the pleats of the ruilie are interengaged with pleats of a reinforcement band and the interengaged pleats are secured to the curtain by stitching in the customary manner, whereby the ruiiie and band are held in more or less loose interengagement for some distance away from the stitching. The portions of the ruiile and band thus interengaged so reinforce the rest of the rule that the latter may be molded or patted by hand into any desired shape, even where the pleats tend to draw the rule into another disposition. The additional staying power imparted to the ruiile by the interengaged band is furthermore so great that the ruffle does not droop or fall at random along a falling edge of a curtain, but remains erect.

The invention will be more clearly understood from the following description in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which:

Fig. 1 is a fragmentary view of a ruffle curtain embodying the present invention;

Fig. 2 is an enlarged section through a ruiiled edge of the curtain, taken on the line 2-2 of Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is a fragmentary section taken on the line 3-3 of Fig. 2;

Figs. 4 and 5 are sections similar to Fig, 2, but showing modified ruiiie constructions;

Fig. 6 is a fragmentary section taken on the ,line 6-6 of Fig. 5;

Fig. '7 is a fragmentary view of a ruffle curtain embodying the present invention in a modified manner;

Fig. 8 is' an enlarged fragmentary section through a ruffled edge of the curtain shown in Fig. '7, the section being taken on the line 8 8 of Fig. 7; and

Fig. 9 is a fragmentary section taken on the line 9 9 of Fig. 8.

Referring to the drawings, and particularly to Figs. 1 to 3 thereof, the reference numeral Ill {designates the body of a curtain which may be of any suitable material such as lace, for instance. Secured by spaced lines of stitching I2 to one or more edges of the curtain body I!) is a ruflie I4 which may also be of lace material. The ruffle I4 has a skirt portion I6 and a head portion IB ion opposite sides of the stitching I2, the material ,of the rulile I4 being pleated in the customary j` manner where secured to the curtain body by the stitching I2.

Fig. 1 shows a characteristic ruiiie in which the skirt portion I6 is considerably wider than the head portion I8, and it is this relatively wide skirt portion I6 which usually droops at random and dees all efforts to pat it into a desired shape. To overcome this deficiency of the skirt portion of a ruiiie, the present invention contemplates reinforcement of the same through a portion of its lateral expanse. To this end, there is provided a reinforcement band 20, preferably of the same material as the rule I 4, which is pleated together with the ruiiie It so that the pleats of both are interengaged between, and secured to the curtain body I Il by, the lines of stitching I2, as best shown in Fig. 3. Since the pleats 22 and 2li of the ruffle I4 and the reinforcement band 20, respectively, are interengaged where they are secured to the curtain body I0, it follows that the ruiiie and the band remain more or less loosely interengaged for some distance away from the lines of stitching I2, whereby substantially the entire ruiiie I4, and Iparticularly the skirt portion I6 thereof, is reinforced to the extent where the same will no longer droop at random and will retain substantially the shape imparted to it by patting.

In Fig. 2, the ruiie I4 and the band 26 are made from a single piece of material, the band -2l) being formed by folding back part of the material of the ruffle IG. The band 20 may also be a separate piece, secured to the inner edge I9 of the rutile I4 by stitching 30, as shown in Fig. 4. The band is in either case of less Width than the rule I4, and the outer edge of the band 20 may be sewed to the skirt portion I6 of the rule I4 by stitching 32 (Figs. 2 and 4). Fig. 5 shows a rule construction which is substantially like that shown in Fig. 2, except that the outer edge 33 of the reinforcement band 291 is not sewed to the skirt portion I61 of the ruille |41, but is left free.

Fig. 6 illustrates the somewhat loose, yet positive, interengagement of the rule skirt and reinforcement band at some distance away from the stitching by which they are secured to thecurtain body. This interengagement of the ruffle skirt and reinforcement band at points more or 'less remote from the lines of stitching I2 is characteristic not only of the ruffle construction shown in Fig. 5, but of the ruiile constructions .shown in Figs. 2 and 4 as Well'. Evidently, the super- :posed ruiile skirt and rein-forcement band Will, beyond the stitching I2, separate or open 11p-more or less as shown in Fig. 6, Ieven if the outer edge of the reinforcement band is sewed to the ruffle skirt as shown in Figs..2 and-4.

The reinforced'rule skirt, be it of a-ny of the constructions shown in Figs. 2, 4 and V5, will readily yield to patting and easily Vretain the shape imparted to it. Shaping the ruffle Yskirt is particularly easy and eiective if the same is patted in the reinforced portion thereof 4and close to the stitching I2., for :the closer the rule skirt and band interengage, the more readily may they be reformed thereat and the lmore firmly will they retain their shape and stiien the remainder of the rulle skirt against ran-dom displacement. The ease with which the reinforced ruliie may thus be patted into any-desired-shape and the firmness with which it retains `any shape into which it has been molded by patting, are due to the fact that the band extends only part Way across the Yexpanse of the rule skirt. If the band would extend all the way across the expanse of the ruffle-skirt, the latter `would be too stiff and unwieldy for ready and lasting reformation.

Inasmuch as the reinforcement band is interposed between the ruiile and the body of the curtain, and since it extends only part way across the lateral expanse ofthe rutile, it does not appear to the eye -so .muchas a conspicuous reinforcement band, but instead lends to the rule .a very pleasing two-tone effect as indicated in Fig. 1. Evidently, the meshes of the material appear to the eye more closely spaced Where the .material is vsuperposed than where it is in a single layer.

The ruffle .construction shown in Figs. '7 and 8 is somewhat of the order of the mme-construction shown in Fig. 5, both relating to double skirt r'uilles. The construction shown in Figs. 7 and 8 has a narrow skirt portion overlying a wide skirt .4 portion, whereas the construction shown in Fig. 5 has a narrow skirt portion underlying a wide skirt portion. The rulile 40 shown in Figs. 7 and 8 consists preferably of a single piece of material Which is folded as shown in the latter figure to provide the head portion 42 and the skirt portions 44 and 46. The ruile 40 is pleated at 48 (Fig. 9) and secured to the body 50 of the curtail! by spaced lines of stitching 52 in the conventional manner. Thepleats 48 :ofthe skirt'iportions 44 and -46 are interengaged between the 'lines of stitching 52 as shown in Fig. 9, wherefore these vskirt portions also interengage for some distance 7away vfrom the stitching 52. Hence, the ruille 4U is as readily and lastingly reformable as the ruiiles *shown inFigs. 2, 4 and 5.

I claim:

1. A ruiiie on a curtain, comprising a strip pleated intermediate its edges and secured with its pleats to the curtain'by stitching, and a band formed'by'aimarginal vportion of said strip folded back upon -the lattenwsaid band having -,pleats interengaged with, and secured t0 the curtain by the same stitching as,thepleats of -sa-idstripl and extending outwardly beyond said .stitching only part way acrossthe `lateral `expanse of said strip.

2. A rufile on a curtain, comprising a strip pleated intermediate its edges and :secu-red with its pleats tothe Ycurtain by stitching, :and a band formed by a marginal :portion .cisaid stri-p .folded back `upon the latter .andri-nterposed between said strip and curtain, said :ban-d having pleats interengaged with, and secured to the curtain by the same stitching as, the pleats of said strip, and exten-ding outwardly beyond-.said-stitching only part way :across -the lateral ex-panse of said strip.

FREDERICK S. NICHOLS.

REFERENCES CIT-ED The following references are of frecord vin 'the ileof this "patent:

`UNTIED *STATES yPn'lErrrs Number Name Date D. 54,115 Worthington Nov. 4, 1919 D. 95,168 Applebaum Apr. 16, 1935 1,412,903 Thomas Apr. 18, 1922 2,156,231 Stam Apr. 24, 1939 2,325,420 Nichols J-uly 27, 1943 FOREIGN PATENTS Number .Country Date 14,724 Germany l1881 OTHER REFERENCES Sears, Roebuck `& Co., Catalog No. rof 1942-43, page 672 item '24D 5325M Montgomery Ward "& Co., 'Catalog JN0. 138 of 1943, page 653D, item at the/top. 

